Begin the day with a trip to Kanda Myojin. This is the head shrine for a bunch of shrines jn the area, and dates back to ~700 AD, though not in this exact location. There is a matsuri (festival) that’s held every other year, involving a large parade and portable shrines, which is happening this …
Author Archives: fremontrambler
Hello Tokyo!
Start of a new adventure in Japan! Though definitely a mixed start, as the flight over was relatively bumpy and I think they scaled back food/drink service as a result. On the plus side, because my son is in a walking boot due to recent foot/ankle surgery, Delta (or Haneda airport) supplied a person with …
A Reset
After a long time without travelling, I’m finally getting back on the road. Testing… this is only a test…
Last Day in Seoul
Yesterday we checked into our traditional hanok room: It’s very much a b&b operation, though we didn’t elect to have breakfast here since the neighborhood has many coffee shops and restaurants, not to mention small art galleries. Today we walked through the 2nd and 3rd royal palaces (apparently 1st royal palace was believed haunted, what …
Tokyo Day 3
Today we headed down to Kamakura to see the Dai Butsu (big buddha) and the beach. We took JR train most of the way then transferred to the quaint Enoden train. After walking up the hill with all the other tourists, we arrived: And yes they still let people go inside (which my dad did …
Tokyo Day 2
Weather was better for day two so we took the train up to Omiya. When my dad was stationed here it was “Camp King” but is now a Japan Ground Self Defense Force base. Walked out to the base and got a few surreptitious pics but nothing impressive. Then again I wasn’t detained either, so …
Tokyo Day 1
We had a rainy day so we didn’t go too far. Started out by going up to a couple of malls in Shibuya, with a cool mural and near the famous “scramble crossing”. Then we headed to Asakusa. This station is a landmark (in the distance) in one of my dad’s post-WWII Army photos. There …
Travel Day – Tokyo
Yesterday we travelled to Tokyo, taking the Hida Wide View Express from Takayama to Nagoya through picturesque valleys. Hard to see but there are fisherman in the photo above, with almost comically long poles, longer than fly fishing poles. Then in Nagoya we changed to shinkansen, which zipped by Fujisan though it wasnt even partially …
Takayama Day 2
We went to the Hida No Sato folk village, which was more of an open air folk museum as it gathered structures and crafts from around the country. This display both showcased a home, and also traditional woodcutting equipment. There were also weaving, papermaking, etc. live displays. My grandparents would have loved this place. Here, …
Takayama Day 1
I like trains, which is good because this trip involved a number of them. First, we had to get going relatively early to catch the “Thunderbird” from Kyoto to Kanazawa. From there we needed to find and transfer to the Shinkansen, but only for a short trip to Toyama. From there we picked up the …
Out and About 